BitMine Immersion Technologies will stop buying Ether once it reaches a hard 5 percent ceiling of the cryptocurrency's total supply. Chairman Tom Lee announced the firm's final accumulation target at Token2049 in Singapore on Wednesday.
BitMine currently holds approximately 6 million Ether—4.9 percent of total supply. Lee said the company needs roughly 100,000 more ETH to hit its stated 5 percent threshold, after which all direct purchases end.
"That's a hard cap. We're not gonna be accumulating past 5 percent," Lee said. "We're not gonna own more than 5 percent of Ethereum."
The announcement reverses Lee's prior hedging. In an August Bankless interview, he had suggested BitMine might revisit going above 5 percent depending on Ethereum adoption growth by 2027. Now the door is closed.
Lee tied the cap directly to capital efficiency. Ceasing Ether purchases means the company no longer needs to raise fresh funds specifically for accumulation—freeing capital for other uses.
"If we have a 5 percent hard cap, that means we're gonna outperform ETH on the way up, right?" Lee stated. "'Cause you don't have to worry about us trying to raise capital. We're done."
BitMine built most of its position during the bear market, establishing its treasury at depressed prices. Lee credited that timing with protecting the downside for Ether while the company was buying.
"We did all this buying in a bear market," he said. "We protected the downside for ETH because we were buying. But now, we're done stacking in front of a 25X move."
BitMine's existing Ether holdings generate substantial revenue. The firm estimates $334 million in annual staking rewards from its $15.8 billion crypto treasury.
To fund acquisitions and operations, BitMine has leaned on capital markets. In June, the company launched a $300 million perpetual preferred stock offering. By early August, it had repurchased 16.1 million common shares under a $4 billion buyback program.
Staking rewards will still increase BitMine's ETH holdings after accumulation ends. Lee previously outlined a mechanism to prevent the company's supply share from exceeding 5 percent: selling ETH earned from staking.
Ether traded at $2,595, down 4.3 percent over 24 hours. The hard cap removes a significant institutional buyer from the market once BitMine's remaining 100,000 ETH target is met.
